1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns a device for measuring the level of solid materials in a vessel. More specifically, it deals with a device which may be used for measuring the level of a bed of finely divided solid material such as a catalyst, to determine whether the level of the bed is the same near the center as at the periphery of such bed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is a known level measuring device that is for use with a container of bulk material. Such device is shown and described in a U.S. Pat. No. 3,629,946 issued Dec. 28, 1971. However, that device is designed for measuring the level of material in a container such as a silo, while the operator stands on the ground outside.
On the other hand, it is an object of this invention to provide a simple yet highly effective device that is usable with the loading of catalyst beds in a vertical reactor or the like. The loading operation of such reactor beds tends to create considerable dust which obscures visual monitoring. Also, where the loading operation is carried out by the type of machine which may be adjusted to control distribution of the catalyst over the internal area, the adjustment may make the material tend to either mound up at the center or build up higher near the edges. Consequently it is desirable to be able to determine the adjustment as the material is being introduced into the reactor.